Commentary
-
Our commentary partners will help you reach your own conclusions on complex topics.
Our children are bombarded with adults screaming at school board meetings, politicians bullying and name calling, and one person, in particular, stigmatizing mental illness by linking it to gun violence.
Donald Trump: “We must reform our mental health laws to better identify mentally disturbed individuals who may commit acts of violence… Mental illness and hatred pulls the trigger, not the gun.”
So what is going on here with previously thoughtful, considerate grown men and women suddenly acting out and, you know, slinging punches, both verbal and physical. I thought about this and I realized that I actually recognize this behavior from when my own children were toddlers.
And why do toddlers act out? Why do they throw temper tantrums or scream over seemingly small issues? This, I think, is what’s at the core of this, this rage crisis facing Americans.
We’ve spent the past two years coming face-to-face with the reality of just how little control we have. We can’t control where we go. We can’t control who we see. We can’t control whether our children are in school.
We’ve all of a sudden realized collectively just how fragile these lives that we’ve built are. They can be dismantled in seconds.
As the surgeon general said, our behavior “undermine(s) the safe and supportive environments young people need and deserve.” So what is the result? We are left with a mental health crisis where kids are struggling with anxiety and depression, hospitalizations for suicide attempts are skyrocketing, and people are afraid to ask for help for fear of ridicule. We must do better.
We are a nation in the throes of a significant mental health crisis. The evidence is everywhere. Fist fights on airplanes, screaming matches in school board meetings, employees in – everywhere from election staffing sites to Costco saying, yes, things are much worse, now.
The grownups, it appears, have left the building. Now I am a grownup, sort of, and I like to consider myself a relatively even-keeled person. I don’t punch walls when I’m angry. I don’t have road rage to speak of.
When I have a disagreement with someone I tend to do, as I have taught my children to do, and I use my words, which brings me to a story about something that happened a little over a year ago that – it doesn’t make me look good.
I was driving away from my small California town, with my two young children in the backseat. It was a few weeks before the 2020 election and my anxiety about whether Trump would win reelection was at this just fever pitch.
I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t stop scrolling through my newsfeed. I was like, what if, what if, what if?
And so, when I saw this caravan of trucks coming the opposite direction headed back towards my town with all the Trump 2020 flags, I just, I lost it. I stuck my hand out the window with my middle finger extended. And I screamed “F you” at this caravan of strangers. And I did this in front of my children. I’m laughing because it it’s like, obviously I knew even as this was happening, that it wasn’t exactly a stellar parenting decision, but it felt uncontrollable. Like all of the anger and fear I had bubbling up inside me just had to burst out. And so many adults are acting this way nowadays.
It it’s like we’re, we’re actively going against the things that we try to teach our children, be kind to each other, communicate with compassion, use your words and try not to let them be F-bombs.
We are to put it mildly setting a bad example.
Speaking of a bad example, it’s not just your average parent that’s losing their minds.
Just as our nation struggles through an acute mental health crisis. We’re coming out of four long years in which the nation’s top officials and one in particular, actively mocked or disseminated misinformation about mental health.
Here’s the former guy imitating a disabled reporter.
Trump: “Written by a nice reporter, now the poor guy, you gotta see this guy, ahhh, I don’t know what I said, I don’t remember.
Lovely. And take a listen to this clip in which Trump blames gun violence on mental health issues, as opposed to, you know, our country’s wildly problematic gun policies.
Trump: “We must reform our mental health laws to better identify mentally disturbed individuals who may commit acts of violence… Mental illness and hatred pulls the trigger, not the gun.”
In reality, the majority of people with mental health problems do not engage in violence against others and are in fact more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators.
Another fact: only 5% of interpersonal violence can be attributed to mental health issues alone, which leaves other factors like say easy access to semiautomatic rifles to blame for the other 96%.
But back to our collective national breakdown.
So what is going on here with previously thoughtful, considered grown men and women suddenly acting out and, you know, slinging punches, both verbal and physical. I thought about this and I realized that I actually recognize this behavior from when my own children were toddlers.
And why do toddlers act out? Why do they throw temper tantrums or scream over seemingly small issues? This, I think, is what’s at the core of this, this rage crisis facing Americans.
We’ve spent the past two years coming face-to-face with the reality of just how little control we have. We can’t control where we go. We can’t control who we see. We can’t control whether our children are in school.
We’ve all of a sudden realized collectively just how fragile these lives that we’ve built are. They can be dismantled in seconds.
So what’s the answer here? I don’t know, but I can tell you what I told my own children after they witnessed my little outburst last year.
I told them that sometimes emotions get so big, we don’t know what to do with them. Sometimes we can’t even identify them for what they are. I told them that we all make mistakes and that was definitely making one of mine.
And I told them that what we do when we make a mistake is we think about why we made that mistake and how we can avoid making it again. And, of course, I reminded them to use their words, the good ones.
-
Americans must reject Trump to defend our democracy
At the end of the Republican National Convention, Donald Trump accepted the nomination as the GOP candidate for president. In the first part of his acceptance speech, Trump called for unity and healing, although he derailed into partisanship as he continued. Critics have debated the media’s role in handling Trump’s speech. Some argued he was…
-
It’s time for Kamala Harris to pick up the torch
Debates have continued among Democrats about whether President Joe Biden is the best candidate for the 2024 election or whether an alternative Democratic leader might be more electable. While there’s no shortage of fellow Democratic leaders to choose from, President Biden and his supporters have continued to assert that Biden can and will win as…
-
Republicans want to sabotage US education
Former President Donald Trump’s official educational policy platform reveals plans to eliminate the Department of Education and seize the financial assets and endowments of elite U.S. universities. These proposals and others have convinced some liberal critics that the true goal of Republicans is to intentionally weaken U.S. education. Watch the above video as Straight Arrow…
-
Despite poor debate performance, Biden deserves our support
President Joe Biden himself admits that he delivered a “bad” performance in the first 2024 presidential debate. About a week after what some consider to be the worst debate performance in the history of televised debates, polls indicate that more voters than ever have an unfavorable opinion of the president, believe he is too old…
-
The modern-day Republican woman has terrifying role models
In a recent New York Magazine cover story entitled, “How Did Republican Women End Up Like This,” Rebecca Traister writes about some of the more polarizing examples of female Republican leaders and their positions on abortion, the transgender movement and women in general. With Republican women set to play a major role in the November…
Latest Opinions
-
U.S. Department of Defense
Congress still trying to figure out how to reduce wasteful military spending
-
DVIDS
US Navy, Air Force making waves with new weapons at RIMPAC
-
Getty Images
Israeli PM Netanyahu meets with Trump at Mar-a-Lago
-
Getty Images
Growing US nuclear power resurgence reaches the nation’s heartland
-
Getty Images
Beer from the sun, other solar thermal projects get government funding
Popular Opinions
-
In addition to the facts, we believe it’s vital to hear perspectives from all sides of the political spectrum.